In Case You Didn't Know
by LoveLifeSong
Summary: Her marriage was toxic and breaking her. The only good she had in the world came in the form of a little boy, that is until she let herself experience the love that she had deserved from the beginning. The love that she originally ran from. Her life is about to take a turn for the better, and for the worse she she begins to let her heart heal, and let her heart take over.
1. Chapter 1

_***Here is a new story. This one is going to have a lot in it. It is also really special to me. This story is dedicated to my greatest love, and my Soul Mate. So please enjoy, and please review! ***_

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CHAPTER ONE….

Rachel sat on her patio of her small suburban home. Her two year old son, Grayson ran around the small yard, giggling and laughing at the butterflies that flew around his head. He bent over to pick up a small yellow flower, pulling it to his nose he took a deep inhale and giggled loudly. Running over to Rachel he shoved it into her hand.

"Mommy! Fower!" He muttered with delight. His bright brown eyes glistened as the setting sun shone in them.

"Yes, my love! I see the pretty flower you have!" Rachel smiled softly at her son. He looked so much like his father it was scary. Yet, despite everything, she loved him with her whole heart. He was her world. He was what motivated her to do the one thing that could break her- or make her stronger. "Sweetheart, it is almost time for dinner. Why don't you go grab your toys from the play box and bring them here to mommy. I will put them away while you wash your hands for supper." She stood up, giving Grayson a bop on the bottom as he ran away in the direction of the small toy box that was made for him for his second birthday. She bushed the small specks of dirt off of her rose colored dress, and opened the back door for Grayson as he came tumbling up the stairs with his trucks and blocks in hand. "Here, Baby. Let me take those." She gathered the toys up, and placed them in a small red bucket she kept by the back door.

Grayson ran to the sink, stepping up onto the small stepping stool, he dipped his hands under the cool rushing water, washing away the sand and dirt from a good day's play outside.

"All Done!" He shouted as he jumped down. He rushed to the dinner table, just as Rachel placed down the small dinosaur plate filled with chicken nuggets. "Chickey Nugnugs! My favate!" He laughed and started chowing down.

Rachel laid her face in her hands, her elbows bent on the table holding her head up. She watched her little boy eat his dinner at a pace that she is still couldn't understand."Slow down." She laughed, smiling at her toddler as he continued to scarf down the nuggets.

The front door opened and closed with a bang. Heavy boots creaked the hardwood as the footsteps came closer. Rachel's smile fell into a light frown, trying to hide her emotions from the two year old that coughed as he finished his last chicken nugget. The tall figure loomed into the kitchen, His boots covered in dust and dirt, creating brown smudges in the white tile of the kitchen floor. "Why isn't he in the bath yet?" The man grumbled as he grabbed a can of PBR out of the fridge. "And where is my dinner?" He sighed as he cracked open the beer.

"It's in the microwave." Rachel refused to make eye contact with him.

"Well, heat it up for me, will you?" He laughed. "Don't you know by now to have a hot plate down on the table for me for when I get home? I thought I trained you better than that Rae." He hissed between his teeth, using the nickname that made her blood run cold.

"I'm sorry." She said flatly. "I was busy with Grayson all day." She ruffled his copper hair, causing a small laugh to erupt from his chest.

"Come on. He is two years old. He can't be that much work. Besides, you wanted to be the stay-at-home mom. You need to be on top of your game. Who knows, maybe one day you'll come home from the grocery store to find that I replaced you with a better model of woman." He laughed loudly.

"Actually, Finn. I wanted to become a teacher. I was even offered a job, and yet you refused to get me a car so that I can go to work." She slipped out though her lips.

"Yeah, whatever. You are the woman, you stay home and take care of me. The kid comes second, anyway. So sugar tits, get the runt to bed, and come back out here. You need to heat up my dinner, then maybe I'll let you pleasure me. But only if you are good." He patted her on the cheek as he strolled out the room.

"Come on baby." She whispered as she picked up a sleepy, and confused child from his seat. "We have some packing to do." She kept her voice low and soft as she carried him to his room. She opened the door to his room and closed it slowly. Placing him down on his bed, he picked up his _Spider-Man_ action figure and played quietly with it. She grabbed his dinosaur backpack that hung on the doorknob to his closet and opened it up, looking at the small pile of clothes that she started packing away months ago. This was her only chance to get out of here, and to get Grayson out of here as well. She took in a long and shaky breath as she finished filling up his bag. "Okay sweetheart, are you ready to go on our adventure?" She smiled at her sleepy-eyed boy.

"Uh-huh" he rubbed his eyes and let out a large yawn. Rachel leaned over and took his small frame into her arms. Covering him with his blue and purple blanket from his bed, she picked up the backpack and tiptoed to the living room. A loud snore filled the quite space with the soft sound of the TV playing in the background. She sighed deeply with relief as she rushed to the front door, closing it softly behind her. Send up a soft prayer to God that Finn would not wake. She jogged to her small red car that she bought just 2 weeks before, placing Grayson into his _Mickey Mouse_ car seat. She kissed his head after she buckled him in and shut the door quietly. Slipping into the driver's seat she turned the key in the ignition and felt the low rumble of her old car roaring to life. She pulled out of the dirt drive way, and drove off watching her house fade in the rearview mirror.

She drove long and far. She refused to look at the clock, knowing it was getting later and later as the sun light dimmed and night began to control the skies. She was sure that if Finn had awoken, he would be out looking for her by now. She knew she had to get away and find a home that he could never find her at. That's how she ended up at the blue and brown house that gazed at her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked at the front door, remembering the last time she ever walked out of it. With one more deep breath she put her car in park, shutting it off with a quick turn of the key. She slipped the key into her brown jacket pocket and slipped out of the car. Walking to the other side of her car, she carefully pulled the sleeping toddler from his seat, his head coming to rest on her shoulder. She slowly walked up the rocky path to the door. She took a shallow breath and knocked loudly on the large door. Her breath caught in her chest as the door opened in one swift movement before her. There he stood, his dark brown hair brushed off to the side. His green eyes opened widely at the sight of the small brunet that stood in his door way.

"Ra-Rachel" he said in a deep sigh. "What are you doing here?" He could feel the tears begin to form in his eyes.

"I need help, Jesse. Grayson and I very much need a place to stay. I know I shouldn't expect you to help me, but I am begging you for help." Her voice shook.

"Of course." He said quickly. "I will always help you." He opened the door wider. "Come in!" He locked the door behind the pair. "I have an extra bedroom that has a king bed. That should fit you both fine. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. My house is your house. It always has been, and always will be. I'm sure I have some toys around here that belong to my cousin. I can look for them in the morning for Grayson." He smiled at Rachel, causing her heart to skip a beat. How he still had such a strong effect on her she didn't know.

"Thank you, Jesse. I am really really thankful." She smiled back at the dark-haired man. His own heart skipping a beat. She was still as beautiful as she was a year ago when he had last seen her. Her long brown hair met the small of her back, curling lightly. She was skinnier than when he had last seen her, she also lost a lot of light that used to reside in her chocolate brown eyes.

"You should know that I would do anything for you Rach. You can stay here for as long as you want. You and Grayson are always welcome here." He leaned his hand out and rubbed her arm, causing goosebumps to emerge on her arm.

"Jesse… I need to tell you what happened. Let me put Grayson down, then can we sit down and talk? Please?" She pleaded with her voice. Jesse nodded quickly.

"Of course. You know where my room is, your room is in that spare room next to it. I finally got around to taking your advice and making it into a guest room." He laughed, watching Rachel as she blushed and turned. Disappearing into the room that was just down the hall. Jesse went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of Arbor Mist wine and two glasses. He cracked open the bottle, pouring the white liquid into the glasses, placing them on the coasters that rested on his coffee table.

"You still remember my favorite wine." A whisper broke the silence.

"Of course. I always keep a chilled bottle in the kitchen…Just in case you were to show up." Sadness was written all over Jesse's face. Rachel's heart broke. She knew she had caused heartbreak in Jesse, she just hadn't thought it was that bad.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she sat next to him. "I- I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought"

"Stop." Jesse cut her off. "What happened happened. What is important is that you and Grayson are here now. So, tell me what happened." He offered the glass to her. She took it and smiled. His hand brushed hers, causing a soft pink to envelop her cheeks.

"Okay… This may take a while, but here goes." She took one more breath before erupting into the tragedy that was her broken marriage, and her broken heart.

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 _ ***There is chapter one. I hope you all enjoyed it. I am really excited for this story. It is extremely special to me, and I hope it becomes special for some of you too. Please favorite, and leave a review! Until next time… XOXO***_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here we are with chapter 2! Be sure to review!**

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Rachel let out her breath that she had been holding in her chest. Her eyes pressed tightly together, fighting back the burning hot tears that tried desperately to make their way down onto her cheeks. Her hands shook as she set her glass of wine down. Jesse's eyes never left her face. He could see the pain that she tried to hide. He wished he could take it all from her. To make her feel something other than hurt.

"I thought I made the right choice." She said again. Finally finding the courage within herself to open her mouth. "I married him because I thought he was the only one that could love me. I thought that I was not worth much outside of theatre, and that on my own I would never be able to make it. I needed someone to support me. At least- I thought I did" She gave a sad laugh. "He was… everything to me in high school. He made me feel alive in some ways, and dead in others. I wish I could have seen it then. I was too blinded though. I gave up everything for him, Jesse. I gave myself up. Did you know that I had a full ride to NYU?" She smiled. "I was so excited that day. I could not believe that I had gotten accepted into my dream school! Finn also applied but was rejected. His grades were not high enough. So he put it into my head that long distance would never work, and how could I love him and leave him?" She shook her head, looking down at her hands that found themselves playing with the hem of her shirt. "I believed him, you know? I mean the whole time I was in school no one paid me any attention, and then he comes in, and is popular and all the girls want to be with him, but he picked me. He picked me to give his attention to. I thought I was something special. When in reality, he just wanted someone he could control. Someone he could dominate. I was weak and small and he was able to walk all over me."

Jesse sat there letting her speak, all while his heart was breaking for her. How had he not seen how Finn had mudded her mind, and her thoughts towards herself. He watched the sadness become etched into her brow and he felt the overwhelming urge to place his hand on her cheek and relax her face. He wanted to show her that she was worth so much more to other people, even to him. When he looked at her, even now as the red blotches formed under her eyes, all he saw was the sun. He saw his whole meaning of existing. His whole reason that he woke up in the morning. She was the beginning and the end of his days. She was everything to him, and she hardly even knew it.

"I tried to retain part of myself, you know? It was not my idea to get married out of high school, but he wanted to support me. He wanted to feel like a man and care for his woman, as he put it. I agreed because I had turned down NYU, and now had nothing left to do. Once he had a ring on my finger it got even worse. He locked me out of the house if I didn't clean right. He would black list me from seeing my friends and family. I haven't seen Quinn since… graduation? He would always feel that he needed to remind me that I belonged to him. That's why I have Grayson. He said it would make our relationship stronger if we had a baby, and I believed him. I believed it was my fault that we were failing at marriage and said sure. I didn't know he would use the baby over me as some kind of animalistic claim to my soul. I was so happy when I met you. I thought I could finally talk to someone, and you would listen to me." A tear fell from her eye, rolling down the soft pale skin of her cheek. "He found out about you. That night that Grayson and I were over here, and you hinted at knowing something was going on at home. I told you that I was fine, but I lied. The day before Finn threatened to take Grayson away from me if I ever left him. We got into this huge fight about how I don't treat him right. I told him I loved him, and treat him perfectly. I asked him when he would treat me better, and spend more time with me and he had the nerve to say that the time is just not right for that. What does that even mean?" She raised her voice, then cleared it. "Anyway, he had found out that I had a friend who was a guy and he got extremely jealous. He would take my debit card away, and would track my phone. He tracked it the day that I was here with you. The day you told me I deserved more. He texted me, calling me all kinds of names saying I was the worst kind of person. A horrible wife and mother. I believed him. Here I was sitting on this very couch and you were telling me that I was beautiful, and deserved a chance at a better life, and he was texting me calling me trash. I wanted to stay, I wanted to agree with you, and start this life that you were painting for me, but I felt wrong. I felt gross, I felt like I owed it to Grayson to try and make it work. That is why I ran away, but god… I didn't." She looked up at Jesse, her eyes finally over flowing with her tears. "Once I went back it just got worse. He would demand things of me, degrading things. He would call me names that were just awful. He would make sure that I could not be with Grayson at night, even when he cried for me. He stripped me of everything else that I valued about myself." She sniffled.

"Why did you run away now?" Jesse asked in a calm voice. He did not want to upset her, or hurt her anymore than she already had been. He wanted to be her safe house, to be the one she can run to when she needed help.

"Last night… I told him I didn't want to be...intimate with him. He huffed about it like he always does, but then I woke up in the middle of the night to him trying to mess with me while I was sleeping." She frowned. "I couldn't stay after that. I didn't know where else I could have gone, so I came here." She picked her glass of wine back up. "I hope it is okay. I can leave tomorrow. I just needed to get away tonight."

Jesse shook his head. "You will go nowhere. This will be your house now. Besides, it gets pretty lonely here all by myself." He laughed. "Rachel. I don't even know where to begin, and I am just so sorry. I am sorry that I didn't fight harder for you. I am sorry that I didn't see all of the signs. I wish I could have helped you in more ways. I am just shocked that anyone could treat you that way. He doesn't deserve you, or your love. If I am stepping over the line here, please tell me but he takes every chance he has to hurt you, and never the chance to love you. You are beautiful, and talented, and smart. You have the more amazing voice I have ever heard, and I love every second I get to spend with you. You deserve to be wanted. You deserve to be valued. Rachel.." He paused. "You deserve to be loved." The tears were full force on Rachel's face. Jesse reached over and whipped her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I know it's been a year, but I still sit here and feel the same way. I still want you with every fiber of my being. I want to be the man who loves you. I want to be the man who takes care of you. I want to be the man that you cry to at night when you can not find the right shoes. I want to take care of you. I know that this may all be a bit much, and I may be way over stepping. Just know that I am not going anywhere, and I will wait for you as long as I need to. You are everything to me Rachel." He pulled her into a hug, letting her tears spill over his shirt. "Go get some sleep with that beautiful little boy, and we can talk more in the morning." He kissed the top of her head and stood up, pulling her with him. "You deserve the world." He caressed her cheek, then turned and walked to his room, closing the door behind him.

Rachel sat back down onto the couch, taking in what he had just said to her. This was fast, and scary. She knew he once had feelings for her, but didn't know how deep they were. Would it be wrong to let herself fall for him? Would it be wrong to start her life over? She tiptoed to her room, and looked at the little boy who laid sprawled out on the bed. He deserved the best life, and he deserved a happy mom. She smiled to herself as she slid into bed next to him, pulling his small body next to hers. "Here is to a new life, baby." She whispered, falling into a peaceful sleep. A sleep she hadn't had in years. The smile never leaving her face.

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 **A/N: *Hope you enjoy!***


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